THE SAMUS OVER INNSMOUTH
And Aran, Aran so far away
We took a look at the beautiful, handdrawn Metroidvania by way of H.P. Lovecraft a few issues ago, but thanks to the power of being a Kickstarter backer (full disclosure – I definitely backed Sundered on Kickstarter) we have some more up to date code to play, and boy howdy is it good.
As with Dead Cells, Sundered does something that seems both incompatible with the meticulous crafting that goes into a Metroidvania type game as well as one that utilised hand drawn animations and backgrounds – the levels are largely procedurally generated - but Thunder Lotus Games has a clever workaround. While the majority of each area may be procedurally generated, there are set rooms and encounters that appear in the same general location each time, giving the randomly generated game structure and allowing it to keep that sense of progression when it comes to gaining skills and gear. That said, there isn’t quite the same sense of exploration as you would find in a traditional Metroidvania style game thanks both to the uncertainty of layout and the fact that some enemies respawn.
It’s not necessarily a bad thing. From our experience so far, Sundered is definitely its own beast when it comes to the actual experience. It’s very much a game of trial and error. Enemies are numerous and while the combat is seemingly simple – one face button on a controller slashes away – the protagonist, Eshe, is definitely light on their feet and can jump after performing an aerial attack, combat can quickly become a rather dazzling, vertical affair. As nimble as Eshe may be, enemies are numerous and care little about platforms when it comes to pathing. They drop shards when they die, a currency that Eshe can spend on upgrades, but only after a death.
Die and you’re respawned at a central hub where you can spend any accumulated shards. The procedurally generated paths between the preset areas are generated anew, the enemies respawn and you head off again, all in the hopes of getting to that area’s boss and gaining more progress. The bosses themselves are huge, impressive and require players to remember and react to attack patterns. Defeating a boss allows Eshe to enhance a skill by “corrupting” it, and while this definitely makes the skill more powerful, it also effects later content in the game and, from what we understand, increases the complexity of the final boss. Do you trade off an easy trip to the final boss for a much harder battle, do you risk a harder trip to make the final battle less worrying or do you try to balance power and difficulty?
Sundered is looking quite polished, in a rather grim way in its beta form. There are still a few months before the final game is released. We can’t wait to get our hands on the finished version. We’re looking forward to be able to corrupt every skill, buy every upgrade and face the baddest end boss possible. TAVISH FORREST